Melissa81407
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2017
- Messages
- 46
I boil my driftwood for at least two hours
I would not worry. This often happens with new driftwood. I believe it releases sugars that feed fungus (the slime) for a few weeks. If you don't like it, you could give it a good brush/rinse or boil it for a bit. Boiling will help release tannins as well.
I get this on new driftwood even though I boil it for an hour, which gets rid of most of the tannins (the stuff that causes brown water and lowers pH). It's not harmful though, it will go away on its own eventually or snails will eat it. You can scrub the slime to get it off but it may come back if the "slime" still finds stuff to eat.
That looks like Mopani. Just as a heads up, it will still do that after you boil it. I boiled mine for 1 hour everyday for a week, and it still did that and leached tannins. Some say boiling also weakens the wood, but still worth doing. Luckily it is harmless.